Ochsner Expands

Ochsner Health System is purchasing the 165-bed NorthShore Regional Medical Center (NSRMC) (100 Medical Center Drive, Slidell, 985-649-7070; www.northshoremedctr.com), which will expand its system of hospitals in southeast Louisiana to eight. The acquisition should be completed by April 1. Ochsner purchased the full-service hospital to keep it open after Tenet Healthcare Corporation announced last year that it would discontinue operating the facility.

Ochsner CEO Dr. Patrick Quinlan says acquiring NSRMC will help Ochsner better serve its patients on the Northshore and in Mississippi, who make more than 250,000 visits a year. Ochsner now has 10 Northshore health centers with 110 physicians in Slidell, Covington, Abita Springs, Hammond and Mandeville. Ochsner president and COO Warner Thomas says the expansion will allow the health system to expand its primary care, cardiac, cancer, specialty, women's and pediatric services. NSRMC currently operates a 24-hour emergency room and has the only pediatric intensive care unit on the Northshore. — Kandace PowerGraves